10 Facts About 4th of July You Didn't Know

June 22, 2014

As we’re celebrating 238th birthday of the United States this 4th of July, we wanted to share couple of interesting facts about the date and the history of the holiday. You may find them interesting and share with your friends and family around the grill on the big day.
1. Americans spend $341 million for beer during the Independence Day each year.
2. 56 people that represented 13 colonies signed the Declaration of Independence. John Hancock was the first one to sign it. The oldest person to sign it was Benjamin Franklin who was 70 and the youngest one was Edward Rutledge who was 26 at the time. Keep in mind that the declaration wasn’t signed until the 2nd of August 1776.
3. Three U.S. Presidents, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, died on 4th of July; Adams and Jefferson died within hours of each other in 1826 while Monroe died in 1831.
4. This is the biggest hot dog holiday of the year, according to TIME magazine. The nation consumes about 155 million of hot dogs on Independence Day alone.
5. The Liberty Bell has not been rung since 1846, due to the concerns about damaging it. Instead, every year, the 2,000-pound bell is tapped 13 times to signal for bells across the country to start ringing. Fun fact is that Liberty Bell was cast in England.
6. More than 14,000 fireworks are organized across the country. The legendary Macy’s fireworks in New York is the largest in the country.
7. The Continental Congress voted for independence on 2nd of July 1776, but didn’t approve the declaration till 4th of July. Some think the holiday should be celebrated on the 2nd of July because of this fact.
8. Calvin Coolidge, the country's 30th president, was born on Independence Day in 1872. He is the only US president born on this day. However, current first daughter Malia Obama was born on this day.
9. The Statue of Liberty represents the nation’s independence and it was constructed in 1885 in France. It’s based on Liberty Island in the middle of New York Harbor, in Manhattan. The statue was a gift to the United States from the people of France. The Statue of Liberty holds a sign written in roman numerals, the date July 4, 1776 which is July IV MDCCLXXVI.
10. The Declaration of Independence begins:
"The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America.
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."History.com have put together this nice infographic looking at the 4th of July by the numbers.
We wish you happy 4th of July and we hope you’ll enjoy the party, fireworks and hot dogs. Cheers!